Naruto From the Dark Ages
by allysa from the moon
Summary: A tale of Kingdoms, Royalty, Adventure and Romantic Tidings! AU


**Naruto from the Dark Ages**

The the kingdom of Konoha, it was seperated into four kingdoms to balance the power. The kingdoms were the North Kingdom ruled by King Guy, the East Kingdom ruled by Queen Kurenai, the South Kingdom ruled by Queen Tsunade, and the West Kingdom ruled by King Kakashi. They were all good friends, even though King Guy and King Kakashi were friendly rivals. What made their kingdoms seem closer to one another was their children. King Guy had a son, Lee, Queen Kurenai had a daughter, Hinata, Queen Tsunade had a daugther, Sakura, and King Kakashi had a son, Naruto. The four played together in the center of Konoha, the only place not ruled by any of the kingdoms. They put a park there so their children could play together. The children played with the other kids in the castle as well, expanding their group from four to thirteen kids. Neji and Tenten lived in the North Kingdom with Lee, Kiba and Shino lived with Hinata in the East Kingdom, Shikamaru and Ino lived with Sakura in the South Kingdom, and Sai, Choji, and Sasuke lived with Naruto in the West Kingdom. They were all five years old. They would play on the grass or play near the fountain. Usually, the boys would do something together and the girls would do something together. Tenten, being a tom boy, loved to go up to Neji in front of his friends and kiss him on the cheek. Then she would run away aand watch him blush pink and see Prince Lee congradulate him or something. But that was when they were all little. Now thirteen years have gone by and they are all eighteen. Princess Sakura sat at the balcony at her window and looked out over her's and the other kingdom's lands. Sakura's long pink hair blew lightly with the wind. She wore a small golden crown and wore a red mini dress with red dress shoes. Ino, her best friend, walked over to her. Ino had her blonde hair up in a pony-tail, she wore a purple mini dress, and purple dress shoes.

"Hi Princess Sakura, whatcha doing?" she asked.

"Oh hi Lady Ino, I'm looking at the other lands," Sakura said, turning back to the lands.

"To catch a look of Prince Lee," Ino teased.

Sakura blushed a hard pink. Sakura had a crush on the prince, even though he wasn't that cute. Ino would tease her about the prince's looks. Ino would ask why she fell in love with a guy who was ugly instead of Sasuke or even Neji. Sakura would reply, saying she saw him for his inner beauty. Ino didn't wait for Sakura to answer, she continued talking.

"Remember that day he gave you that promise?" Ino asked.

"How could I forget?" Sakura asked.

Flashback

It was late in the afternoon, young Princess Sakura (she was six) was sitting at the fountain, waiting for her mom. She sat there playing with the water. She senced someone walk up in front of her. She looked up to see young Prince Lee standing there. His hands were behind his back and he was blushing a hard red.

"Hi Prince Lee," she said.

"Hello Princess Sakura," he said. "Princess Sakura I will protect you until the day I die!"

Sakura just stared at him as he gave her the good guy pose that he had learned from his dad. She blushed a light pink. Then, she saw Lee holding out a cherry blossom. He was blushing a dark heavy red.

"I ... I picked this for you," Lee said.

She took it from him, blushing pink.

"It's ... it's beautiful Lee, thank you," she said.

"Sakura," Queen Tsuade said.

"Coming mommy," Sakura said, turning to her mom.

Sakura turned back to Lee and kissed him on his right cheek. She then ran to her mother, blushing a hard pink. Ino and Shikamaru looked at her and then back to the heavy red Lee, who was being teased to by Tenten and Naruto, and back to the pink Sakura. The two shrugged. Tsunade also looked confused, but shook it off.

End Flashback

Ino laughed. Sakura was blushing way too hard to notice.

"And remember what happened after that?" Ino asked.

Flashback

It was late at night on the same day. Sakura was asleep in her room. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her. She tried to scream but her mouth was covered by the strangers hands. The stranger had a strong grip around her waist.

"Keep quiet and you won't get hurt," the stranger threatened in a dark tone.

Sakura had tears in her eyes. She closed her eyes shut.

"Get away from her!" another voice said from her window.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked over at the window and was surprised to see Lee there, anger in his eyes. The figure smirked.

"Move along small fry, this is none of your business," the figure said.

"I made a promise and I will keep it," Lee said, lunging at the figure.

The figure pushed Sakura to a wall and dodged Lee's attack. Sakura was too stunned to talk, too stunned to move.

'Lee,' she thought.

The figure kept punching him in the stomach. Lee could barly defend himself. The guy used a powerful punch on Lee, but Lee survived. Lee was able to get a few punches before he was able to fully attack. Now it was the figure who couldn't block the attacks. Sakura kept watching.

"Lee," she whispered.

She realized she had her voice back and did the one thing she could think of.

"Help! Guards, a stranger is in my room! Heeeellllllllpppppp!" Sakura yelled.

The figure was caught of guard by her yelling and with all the strength he could muster, Lee punched the guy in the solar plex. The guy backed away and held his stomach. Then he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He looked back at Lee and jumped out the window. The guards burst through the door, just as Lee fell. Sakura ran over to him. She turned him over to his back.

"Lee, Lee, are you alright?" she asked.

Lee didn't answer. She was afraid for him.

"Princess Sakura, are you alright?" one of the gaurds asked.

Sakura ignored him. Queen Tsunade came running into her daughters room.

"Sakura, are you alright?" she asked, running to her daughters side and bending down.

She looked at Lee and gasped.

"Please, mommy, we have to help him," Sakura said, tears in her eyes.

Queen Tsunade nodded and stood up.

"Get this boy to the infirmary," Tsunade ordered.

"Yes, your madam," the guards said.

One of the guards picked up Lee and took him to the infirmary. Queen Tsunade and Princess Sakura walked to the infirmary behind the guard.

"Sakura, why was Lee in your room?" Queen Tsunade asked.

"This figure tried to kidnap me and Lee saved me," Sakura said to sum it all up. "And then the figure ran away because he heard the guards coming."

Queen Tsunade looked surprised that a little kid like Lee could take on somebody bigger than them. The guard carefully put Lee on a bed. A nurse came out to treat Lee's wounds. Princess Sakura and Queen Tsunade watched as the nurse treated the little boys wounds. Lee slowly opened his eyes and turned to see Sakura. Sakura's face broke into a smile.

"Look, he's waking up," she said.

"Sa ... Sakura, where ... where am I?" he asked.

"You're in our infirmary silly, you collapsed after you punched that one guy," she said.

"You were a true hero Prince Lee," Tsunade said.

"Queen Tsunade," Lee said, realizing she was here.

"You saved my daughter, thank you," she said.

"Yah Lee, you're my prince in shining armor," Sakura said, blushing.

Lee blushed as well. Queen Tsunade looked at the two children surprised.

'Sakura,' she thought.

She smiled.

"Well, you are in no condition to move. Stay here the night and tomorrow you may leave, I'll have my messenger send a message to your father. Right now, both of you need some sleep," she said.

The two little kids looked up at her and nodded.

End Flashback

"He really cared about you," Ino said.

"Yah," Sakura said.

"And you really called him your 'prince in shining armor'?" Ino asked.

Sakura blushed.

"Yes," Sakura said.

"Oh that's cute," a voice said from behind them.

They turned to see Tenten standing there. Tenten wore a pink long sleeve shirt and a blue mini skirt with blue slippers.

"Hi Lady Tenten," the two girls said.

"Hello. Hey, did you guys hear?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Sakura asked.

"King Guy is holding a dance at his castle tonight," Tenten said.

"Oh Sakura that's perfect," Ino said.

"What's perfect?" Sakura asked.

"Well, at the ball, you and Lee can dance together," Ino said.

"Hey she's right, you and Lee can spend time together at the dance," Tenten said.

"I don't know," Sakura said.

"Too late!" Ino and Tenten said.

They ran to her closet to get her clothe to help her get ready for the dance. She sighed. They would never grow up. Night came too fast. Sakura walked into the North Kingdom's castle, being greeted by Guy and Lee at the doors. Lee was stunned at her beauty. She had her hair down that was tied up with a red bow, she had a long red evening gown, and she wore red dress slippers. He shook her hand and managed a hello. Sakura was surprised to see Lee in a tuxedo, usually he was wearing a green long sleeve shirt and black pants. Guy smiled, Tsunade lightly chuckled, and Sakura lightly giggled. Her and her mother walked into the castle. Lee watched them leave, a hint of sadness in his eyes. Guy chuckled and put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"If you hurry up, you might be able to ask her to a dance before the other boys do," Guy said.

Lee turned to his father and bowwed then ran after Sakura.

'Ah, the power of youth at work,' Guy thought.

Lucky for Lee, he was able to ask her to a dance. Sakura gladly accepted. The group watched the two danced. Tenten walked up behind Neji and tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see a red face Tenten. He rose an eyebrow. Tenten never blushes, never.

"Yes?" he asked.

She regained her posture and grabbed his hand. She dragged him out onto the dance floor.

"Come on lets dance," Tenten said.

He blushed light pink. Naruto and Kiba were on all fours, gasping for air. Sasuke looked at Sakura and Lee. He sent a glare to the prince. He walked up to both of them, without anyone noticing. He tapped on Lee's shoulder. The two turned to see Sasuke. Sakura felt a shiver go up her spine. Something about him scared her.

"Excuse me, I was wandering if I could cut in?" he asked.

Lee was about to allow him, but Sakura stopped him.

"Sorry, but we were about to go to the balcony, bye," she said, dragging Lee away from Sasuke.

Sasuke sent a glare. Once the two reached the balcony, Sakura let the prince go.

"Sakura, why did you do that?" he asked, no anger detected.

"I didn't want to dance with him," she answered.

"Why? We've known him since we were little," Lee said.

"I know, but I just don't trust him for some reason," Sakura said, not looking at Lee.

Lee stood there, not knowing what to say. The full moon shone over the castle. A soft breeze blew through Konoha. She was cold but didn't want Lee to know. She closed her eyes and began to sing in a low, soft tone.

I am not a child now I can take care of myself I mustn't let them down now Mustn't let them see me cry I'm fine, I'm fine

I'm too tired to listen I'm too old to believe All these childish stories There is no such thing as faith,

And trust and pixie dust

I try But it's so hard to believe I try But I can't see what you see I try, I try, I try...

She knew the rest of the song, but she didn't want to continue singing. A strong wind blew in and made Sakura shiver. She felt something around her arms. She looked to see a pink sweater around her bare arms. She looked up to see a blushing Lee next to her.

"I noticed you were cold, so I grabbed this for you. I got it earlier today," Lee said blushing.

Sakura smiled. She blushed a light pink. She laid her head on his left shoulder, making Lee blush even harder.

"Thank you," she said.

She held his arm and closed her eyes. It was a perfect moment, like something out of a romantic movie. Nothing and no one could destroy it. Okay, maybe I was lying. Someone could ruin this perfect moment.

"Prince Lee! Princess Sakura!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura opened her eyes and turned to see Naruto run their way. As he neared, Sakura kicked and punched him. He fell over the balcony and hit the ground face first. Lee looked at Naruto's body and than to Sakura, who was walking away. He blinked.

"She is, very strong," he said.

He jumped down to make sure his friend was ok. As he neared the body, it disappeared. His eyes widened. He bent down where the body use to be. In its place was black soil. He touched it.

"Impossible," he said.

"What is?" a voice asked from behind.

Lee turned to see Sasuke. He walked out of the shadows. Evil was in his eyes. Lee stood up.

"Sasuke, what is going on?" Lee asked.

"None of you have figured it out yet, have you. The body disappeared because it was a clone," Sasuke said.

"But, that would mean, the user would have to have dark magic. The only one to have that is Orochimaru," Lee said.

"Exactly, except, he isn't the only one," Sasuke said, "I can preform it too."

"But that would mean," Lee started.

"That I'm part of Sound Kingdom and," Sasuke said, "Orochimaru is my father."

Lee's eyes widended, again.

"But how?" Lee asked.

"I played you all right from the start," Sasuke said, seeing Lee get angry. "I wouldn't get mad at me right now, you should be worrying about the people inside."

Lee looked up to see the castle on fire. He could hear people screaming. He looked back to see that Sasuke was gone. He narrowed his eyes.

"Lee! Prince Lee!" Tenten yelled.

He turned to see people run out. After a minute the people were safely out of the burning castle. Lee looked around for Sakura. After not being sucessful to find her in the crowd, he asked his friends.

"Do any of you know where Sakura is?" he asked.

"No, I thought she was with you," Neji said.

His eyes widened and he ran back into the castle. Sakura was walking around trying to get out. She eventually found a corner and sat there. She was coughing way too much. She had breathed in a lot of smoke.

'Lee,' she thought.

She closed her eyes. She then heard someone call her name. She tried getting up but fell back down.

"He ... help," she said, almost in a whisper.

She saw a figure come up to her. To her luck, it was Lee. He picked her up bridal style and went the direction he had come. She rested her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, he stopped. In front of him was Sasuke. Lee narrowed his eyes.

"Sakura, can you move?" he asked, eyes still on Sasuke.

She looked up at him.

"Ya ... yah," she said.

He carefully put her down then pointed to a window behind them.

"Go out that way, near the window. There is a latter on the outside, you should be able to make it down to the ground," Lee said.

Sakura saw the look in his eyes and nodded. She walked to the window and began to walk down the latter. She touched the ground and looked up at the firey building.

'Lee,' she thought.

She ran over to her mother and friends. Up in the firey building, Lee and Sasuke were throwing punches and kicks. Sasuke was smirking. Lee was about to kick Sasuke, when Sasuke punched him with a powerful dark punch, then kicked him out the window. Everyone watched, watched as Lee fell to the ground.

"LEE!" Sakura yelled.

Lee was about to hit the ground when Sasuke caught him by the collar of the tux and jumped onto a tree branch. Sasuke held Lee's unconsious body in the air, Lee's legs dangling in the air.

"So, this is all ... this is all this weakling has to offer. I've foughten three-year-olds that put up a better fight than this," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"What do you think, I'm holding this weakling from falling, that is, until I drop him," Sasuke said.

"Why?" Guy asked.

"Because, I am the son of Orochimaru and I'm here to get rid of the heirs to the kingdoms. That is why I set the castle on fire, hoping to destroy them," Sasuke said. "Now, say good bye to this weakling, my first victum."

Sasuke let go of Lee's collar and Lee fell to the ground. Lee fell and hit the ground. Everyone looked stunned. Sakura ran to Lee and knelt by him.

"Lee, Lee, get up," she said.

He didn't answer. Tears formed in her eyes. She heard Sasuke laughing. She looked up at him and sent a glare.

"You ... you monster!" she said.

He only smirked, then disappeared. Everyone turned from where Sasuke was to Lee and Sakura. Their friends turned to the guests and shooed them away. Tenten and Ino walked up to Sakura. They were about to speak, but was stopped by a soft, weak voice.

"Sa ... Sakura," the voice said. "He ... he was right, I ... I am weak."

"Lee," Sakura said. "Lee, he is wrong. He is wrong."

Lee closed his eyes.

"Neji, come here!" Tenten said.

Neji ran over to the four. He knelt down and picked the prince up on his back.

"Now what?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Take him to our castle in the south," Sakura said, standing up.

Neji nodded and ran in that direction. Their friends said good bye and went back to their own kingdoms. Guy and Tenten followed Sakura and them back to the castle. When they got to the castle, they saw Neji and an unconsious Lee standing at the gates. Neji was yelling at the two guards. The group looked confused.

"Ok what's going on? They know Neji and Lee, so why are they still at the gates instead of in there?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out," Sakura said, walking to the gates.

As she neared she could see Neji was losing his temper.

"What do you mean? Prince Lee is going to die if you don't let us in. Queen Tsunade and Princess Sakura sent me here with him," Neji said.

"Sorry sir, but that story is unlikly," one of the guards said.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Sakura asked politly.

"Princess Sakura, we caught these two pretending to be Lord Neji and Prince Lee, saying that you sent them here," the other guard said.

"Well, these two aren't fake, Prince Lee will die if we don't get in there right now," Sakura said.

"Uh, but Princess Sakura," the other said.

"I don't want to hear it, we must get inside the castle now!" Sakura said, almost in a threatning tone.

"Uh, right Princess Sakura," the two said.

They allowed the group through. Neji carefully put Lee on the hospital bed and took off Lee's tux. Tsunade and Guy had went to bed. They knew the six teens could take care of Lee, or, at least they hoped so. Ino, Tenten, and Shikamaru took a seat near the door, Neji rested against the wall near the door, and Sakura took a seat near Lee.

"Ok, now what?" Ino asked.

"Sakura," Neji said.

"Yah?" she asked.

"You need to take off his shirt," Neji said.

Sakura blushed.

"But why me?" she asked.

"Because I said so," Neji said plainly.

Tenten and Ino turned around. Sakura sighed. She carefully unbuttoned Lee's dress shirt. Sakura blushed red when the shirt started to reveal Lee's muscular chest. She sucessfully unbuttoned Lee's shirt. Then, she gasped. Neji opened his eyes to see what she gasped at. His eyes widened. He walked over and took Lee's shirt off. In the lower part of his chest, there was a black mark. It went into Lee's stomach by an inch and was the size of a fist. Tenten walked up behind Neji.

"Neji, what is it?" she asked, seeing the mark.

"It's a curse mark in a way. I should have known this was the case," Neji said.

"Why? What does it do?" Sakura asked.

"Lee is strong and doesn't collapse that fast or that easy. This mark that Sasuke left is a dark attack, only used by dark magic users. As you can see, Sasuke punched hard and made a small hole, about an inch or two into his stomach," Neji explained. "If we don't treat it immediatly, he will die."

"Do you know what ointment we need to use?" Sakura asked.

Neji walked over to the cabniet and looked for what they needed. He grabbed a tub of gel ointment and then walked back to Lee. He handed the tub to Sakura.

"Take a hand full and rub it on the mark," he said.

Sakura blushed and sighed. Neji walked back to the wall and actted cool. She absolutly hated him for doing that.

'Jerk! He just doesn't want to do it! Cha!" Inner Sakura yelled.

Sakura dipped her hand in the tub and rubbed the ointment on the dark mark. Steam started to form from the mark. Lee woke up immediatly after feeling the pain. He sat up and looked around.

"Where ... where am I?" he asked.

"You're at the Sakura's castle. We took you here after you fell," Neji said.

"Why does my stomach hurt?" he asked, holding his stomach.

"The creep Sasuke gave you the dark mark," Sakura said.

Lee noticed that Sakura was next to him, and that his shirt was off. He blushed a bright pink.

"Wh ... what happened to my shirt?" he asked.

Neji rolled his eyes.

"If we didn't take it off then you would have died," Neji said plainly.

"How would I have died?" Lee asked.

"The mark was powerful and if we didn't take care of it immediatly then you wouldn't be here right now," Neji explained.

Lee nodded. He was about to get out of bed when a painful surge of energy from his mark hit him. He fell back down.

"Lee, you ok?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, I am fine," he said.

"Neji, now what do we do?" Tenten asked.

"We'll need to go to the Sound Kingdom and stop Orochimaru," Neji said.

"Shouldn't we have the knights do that?" Ino asked.

"No way Ino, we need to do," Shikamaru said. "We need to get the others too."

"But when will we leave?" Tenten asked.

"Tonight," Lee said, sitting up again.

"Tonight?" Ino asked.

"Do you think the others will be up to it?" Sakura asked.

"We are so up to it, believe it!" Naruto said.

Sai and Choji were behind Naruto. The six teens had ran to the West Kingdom to ask them. Naruto wore a yellow shirt with black pants and yellow tennis shoes. Choji and Sai wore the same clothes they wore in the Naruto series (too lazy to write). The teens from the North and South Kingdoms changed in to their regular clothes. Neji and Shikamaru wore the same clothes the did in the Naruto series and Lee, somehow, wore a green long sleeve shirt and black pants.

"Great, then get your stuff, we need to get to the East Kingdom and see if they will go," Shikamaru said.

The minute Shikamaru finished talking, the three nuts went to pack. They came back a minute or two later, each having one backpack on their backs.

"Um, great, let's go get the others," Tenten said.

They again ran across the center and to the gates of the West Kingdom. They snuck past the guards and up to the doors. They knocked and was glad to see Kiba there. Kiba wore a brown jacket and blue pants with black dress slippers. He was rubbing his eyes.

"Yah, what is it?" he asked.

"We were wandering if you, Shino, and Hinata wanted to come with us and destroy Orochimaru and Sasuke," Naruto said.

"Huh, oh yah I'm so there, let me go ask the others," Kiba said.

He returned a couple of minutes later with Shino and Hinata. Shino wore a blue jacket with black pants, and black boots.

"We left a note, saying we were gone, now lets go," Kiba said.

He got a nod from the others. They ran out of the gates and out of Konoha's gates. They walked through the forest.

"So, does anyone have any idea where the Sound Kingdom is?" Naruto asked.

Everyone froze. Nobody knew where they were going.

"All I know is that it isn't so far from the Sand Kingdom," Neji said.

"Then that is where we shall go," Lee said, walking ahead,

On the inside, he was hurting but he wouldn't let the others know. Last thing he wanted was the others worrying about him. He fought the urge to scream out in pain, the urge to collapse.

"Lee," Sakura whispered.

The others followed him. The people from the East and West Kingdoms didn't know about the mark, and the others sure weren't going to tell them. Sakura walked close to him and could feel him getting weaker and weaker.

"Lee, maybe we should rest," she suggested.

"No Sakura, we must continue," he said.

She could see the pain in his eyes, and it pained her to see him in pain.

"Lee, maybe you shouldn't have come, you are still in pain," she said.

Lee closed his eyes, he ws hurting.

"No, I must stop him, for what he did," Lee said.

"Lee, I know he hurt you but ... but you shouldn't be like that," Sakura said. "You are still in pain."

Lee lowered his head.

"I don't care, I must stop him," Lee said, walking ahead.

"Lee," she whispered.

His vision was getting blurry. He could barly keep himself up. He was fighting the urge to collapse.

"Hey Sakura, what's wrong with Lee?" Naruto asked, walking up next to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He looks weak," Naruto replied.

"Well, to tell the truth, Sasuke's punch hurt him real badly," Sakura said.

Before Naruto could say anything, Lee collapsed in front of him and Sakura.

"Lee!" Sakura exclaimed.

She ran to his side and picked his head up. He was barely consious.

"I am weak, so weak," he whispered before finally losing consiousness.

"Lee, Lee get up," she said.

He didn't react, he didn't say anything. The others ran up to him.

"What ... what happened?" Kiba asked.

He knew Lee, and he knew Lee would never faint just out of nowhere, something powerful would have had to make him collapse. Neji closed his eyes and sighed. He was debating wether or not to tell the others about Lee's mark. He sighed again.

"Sasuke's punch was a dark attack. Sasuke gave Lee a curse mark," Neji said. "Right now, it is draining his energy."

"No ... no way," Naruto said.

"But that's impossible," Kiba said.

"No it isn't. If you want us to show you then we will," Neji said. "Sakura, lift up Lee's shirt."

Sakura sent 'I hate you glares' at him but did as he ordered. She lifted up his shirt so everyone could see the mark. The others gasped. Sakura's eyes widened. The mark had grown an inch since the last time they saw it. She immediatly took out the tub of ointment and rubbed some of it on his stomach. Steam came from the mark. Lee cried out in pain. He sat up and held his stomach. He looked up and saw the others around him. He lowered his head.

"I am so weak," he whispered so no one could hear.

Sakura hugged Lee.

"You had us all worried. We should rest and continue tomorrow," Sakura said.

Lee lowered his eyes and nodded his head. He couldn't argue, there was no point. They took out their sleeping bags and fell asleep. Lee couldn't sleep. Thoughts were running through his mind.

'Maybe I shouldn't have come, I'm only a burden to them,' he thought. 'Well, since I'm here, I might as well get some sleep.'

He closed his eyes just as Sakura started to twist and turn. She was having a nightmare.

"Lee ... Sasuke ... stop ... help," she kept mumbling.

She sat up and looked around. Everyone was sleeping peacefully.

'I have to get some sleep,' she thought.

She laid back down and fell asleep again. The next morning came fast. Sakura was woken up by an angry Tenten. She sat up to see Tenten shaking Lee. Even though Lee was higher in power, but that didn't stop Tenten from shaking him.

"Get up you moron," Tenten said.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"The moron won't wake up," Tenten said.

Sakura took a closer look and could see his face was stern.

"Is he having a nightmare?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, but lets check the mark," Tenten suggested.

Sakura nodded and lifted up Lee's shirt. It had grown an inch. She took out the tub and rubbed some of the ointment on it. His eyes snapped open. He sat up and held his stomach, not yelling at all.

"Oww," he said.

"You finally woke up," Tenten said angerly.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's ok, come on, we need to get going," Sakura said, helping Lee up.

They walked down the path they were walking on yesterday. Back at the South Kingdom, in the castle, King Guy had woken up and found the note the group had left.

"To whoever cares,

We have left in search of the Sound Kingdom. Don't worry about us, we will be fine. Don't you dare follow us and don't send anyone to find us. We are probably gone by the time you read this. See you when we get back.

Lord Neji" Guy said.

After a minute or two, he was trying to find Queen Tsunade. He accidentally ran into the bathroom and she was taking a bath. He blush and covered his eys, apologizing. Of course that didn't work. She threw anything she could find at him.

"Wait, I have a note from the children," he said, dodging the shampoo bottle.

"Hm, let me see," she said, grabbing it from him.

She had a towel around her body. She read the note. Her eyes flamed up.

"How dare they! Do the other kingdoms know of this?" she asked.

"Uh, I have no idea," he said.

"Grr, Slok!" she yelled.

A guard came running in, covering his eyes.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked.

"Go to the West and East Kingdoms and see if they have this same note," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," he said, running off.

"Those idiots, why didn't they say anything? Wasn't Lee in a bad condition? Why were they going on their own?" she asked, mostly to herself.

"Well, they are adults," Guy said.

She turned to see Guy, eyes still covered, still at the doorframe.

"And what are you still doing here, get!" she yelled.

Guy was out of there before she could throw the toilet at him.

"Stupid Guy ... stupid kids ..." she mumbled.

Guy walked away, not wanting to get hurt. Frankly, he didn't mind the kids going to the Sound Kingdom, but going alone and not telling anyone, that made him worry.

'Power of youth, please watch over them,' he thought.

His thoughts were inturrupted by a door slamming. He was scared, really scared.

'Power of youth, please protect me as well,' he thought.

Slok returned in about 30 minutes or so. He walked up to Queen Tsunade, who was blowing off steam by punching a punching bag with Guy's picture on it (she already punched Orochimaru's picture). He gulped.

"Excuse me ma'am," he said.

She stopped and looked at him.

"Yes?" she asked.

He gulped again.

"It seems the other kids went with them," he said, dodging a vase.

He was out of there. He ran past a closet, not knowing Guy was in it. He was shaking badly. He knew that Tsunade was more dangerous than Orochimaru and his army. He gulped as he heard foot steps near. He stayed absloutly quiet, for once. Sadly for him, she opened the door, a club in her hand. Guys skin went white and he put up a hand in front of his face to protect himself.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he yelled.

Back with the others, they were nearing the Sand Kingdom. Lucky for them, the Sand Kingdom were their allies. Also, the kids knew King Gaara, Lord Kankuro, and Lady Temari because during the summer, the three would come to the Konoha's and play with them. True, most kingdoms would have liked to be on the Sound Kingdoms side rather than against them, but the Sand Kingdom, Earth Kingdom, and the Konoha Kingdoms were all allies, disliking the Sound Kingdom.

"So what should we do first when we get there?" Ino asked.

Sakura looked at the tub.

"I think I'll get some more ointment," Sakura said.

"I will escort you," Lee said, looking back at her with a smile.

"Ok," Sakura said, happy to have some company.

Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Hey Hinata, want to get some Ramen with me, Sai, and Choji?" he asked.

She blushed and nodded. She was wearing a blue mini dress with blue dress slippers. Her short hair had a butterfly hair clip in it.

"I'm going to talk with King Gaara," Shikamaru said.

"What for?" Ino asked, walking close next to him, making him blush.

"To warn him about Orochimaru, Sasuke, and the Sound Kingdom," Shikamaru said, hiding his blush.

"I'll go with you," Neji said, his eyes closed.

"Well then, me and Ino will go shopping," Tenten said.

Kiba sighed, making Ino and Tenten throw glares at him.

"What's your problem?" Ino asked.

"It's just, it's wierd how girls can go crazy over shopping," he answered. "Right Shino?"

Shino didn't answer. He really didn't care. Kiba's left eyebrow twitched. Kiba hated it when Shino wouldn't answer him (if you think its a love thing then you're wrong. everytime he asks Shino something, Shino ignores him everytime. you would get irritated too).

"So Shino, what ... what will you do when we get there?" Hinata asked.

He didn't answer. Her eyes lowered a bit. Naruto flared up.

"Hey what's your problem, aren't you going to answer her?" Naruto asked.

Shino didn't answer him. Naruto flamed up again. Neji rolled his eyes. He walked up to Naruto and knocked him on the head.

"Enough whining, besides we're here," Neji said.

They were standing outside the gates doors. Neji walked over and knocked on it. A guard jumped down from the top. When he landed, he fell on his butt. He was a newbie.

"Oww," he said.

Lee extended a hand and helped the guard up.

"Thanks, so who are you and why are you here?" he asked.

"Well, to make it short, were from the Konoha Kingdoms and need to rest," Lee said.

"Hm, rest ... what for?" he asked.

"We're going to the Sound Kingdom to stop Orochimaru," Lee said.

"Ok, but ... who exactly are you?" the guard asked again.

"I'm Prince Lee, this is Princess Sakura, Princess Hinata, Prince Naruto, Lord Neji, Lady Tenten, Lord Shikamaru, Lady Ino, Lord Kiba, Lord Shino, Lord Sai, and Lord Choji," Lee introduced.

"Oh, hello, I'll tell King Gaara about your arrival," the guard said, about to leave.

"Don't worry about it, we were about to do that," Shikamaru said.

"Oh, ok, I'll let you in," he said, jumping back up.

The double doors opened up for them. They walked in and seperated into their groups. Shino wandered off somewhere; Sai, Choji, Naruto, and Hinata ate at the nearest Ramen bar; Tenten and Ino went shopping; and Shikamaru and Neji were explaining everything to King Gaara. Gaara agreed and allowed them to stay the night. Neji and Shikamaru thanked him, then went in search of Tenten and Ino. Sakura and Lee went to the nearest medical store and bought two more tubs of the mark. Unknown to them, the mark was growing every inch on the hour. They walked out of the store and felt an uneasy presence form.

"Looking for me?" a cold voice asked.

They looked ahead and saw Sasuke. He was smirking. He had black long sleeve shirt and black pants.

"Sasuke," Sakura said bitterly.

"I see you're still alive Lee," Sasuke said.

"Thanks to my friends," Lee replied.

"Well, they won't be able to help you now or ever," Sasuke said.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"That mark, you have read up on it right?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, yes ... all it said was it was a dark attack," Lee said.

Sasuke shook his head in disappointment.

"It expands, right?" he asked.

Neither answered, but their eyes said yes. Sasuke smirked.

"You see, it will expand to your head, thus taking over your body," Sasuke said. "And those ointments won't help. So to concluded it all, Lee ... you will be evil and no one can help you."

"We will see about that," Lee said, running towards Sasuke.

Sasuke shook his head and snapped his fingers. Lee fell down in pain, holding his stomach, and biting his lip so he wouldn't yell out in pain. Sakura ran over to him and knelt down beside him, holding his back with one hand and the other hand on his chest.

"Lee," she said.

"Your boyfriend tried to hurt me, which is stupid. Seeing as I can hurt him, when I feel threatened, I can hurt him with a snap of my fingers. Of course, I have to be within a mile of my victum. And now to destroy the both of you," Sasuke said.

He was about to use a fire attack, when a gust of wind blew by. It came from behind Lee and Sakura. They looked to see Lady Temari and her fan (she wares the same clothes in the cartoon).

"Now now, don't you know it is improper to hurt other people when they are on a date," Temari said, almost teasing.

Lee and Sakura blushed.

"Butt out of this girl, you have no business here," Sasuke said flatly.

"Oh really," Temari said.

Temari waved her fan and made Sasuke hit the building behind him. Temari smirked.

"Now as I was saying ... get out of here," she said in a death tone.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and disappeared.

"Te ... Temari, how'd you know we needed your help?" Sakura asked.

Temari turned to the two.

"Your friend Shino told me," she replied.

"Huh, Shino did?" Sakura asked.

"Yah, he said that you two needed some help. Good thing too," Temari said.

"Yah, thanks," Sakura said.

Sakura then remembered Lee and looked at him. He was still holding his stomach in pain. Temari saw this too.

"We need to get him to the castle, we'll treat him there," Temari said.

"Right," Sakura said.

Temari and Sakura lifted Lee up and took him to the castle. They set him carefully on the bed and Sakura rubbed some ointment on his stomach. Steam came from the mark but he didn't cry out in pain. He was getting use to the pain. Temari took a closer look at the mark and her eyes widened.

"Is that the dark mark?" she asked.

"Yes, Sasuke gave it to me," Lee said, looking away.

"Ouch, that has to hurt," she said. "Lets go find the others, who knows if Sasuke ran into them too."

Sakura and Lee nodded. The three ran out of the castle and around town.

"Who first?" Temari asked.

"Well, Ino and Tenten are shopping," Lee said.

"They can be anywhere," Temari said.

Then they heard a scream from inside a shopping building.

"Or they are in there," Sakura said.

They ran inside to see Ino and Tenten running around the store; Neji and Shikamaru holding their bags. Both looked irritated. Temari laughed. Lee was staring in bewilderment at them. Sakura sighed. For some reason no matter where they are or go, Ino and Tenten sure know how to find all the stores.

"Tenten, Ino," Sakura said.

The girls turned to see their friends.

"Hi guys, what's the matter?" they asked.

"Well, for some reason, Sasuke found us," Sakura replied.

"Did he do anything?" Neji asked.

"Well, he attacked me and Lee," Sakura said.

"That creep! Where is he, I'll kill him!" both Tenten and Ino said.

Sakura sighed. Always jumping into action.

"Come on, we should warn the others," Shikamaru said.

They nodded and went in search of Naruto's group.

"So, where is Naruto and them?" Temari asked.

"Do you really have to ask?" Sakura asked.

"Another bowl please!" a voice yelled.

The group stopped in front of a Ramen bar.

"Found him," Tenten said.

They walked in and saw bowls upon bowls of empty ramen bowls. The others sweat dropped.

"Good thing he has money," Ino said.

"I'm going to skip dinner," Shikamaru said.

"Hm, oh hi guys," Naruto said.

"Hi," the group said.

"Come on guys, we should get going guys," Neji said.

"Wh ... why?" Hinata asked.

"Because Sasuke has followed us here," Lee said.

Naruto and Choji dropped their bowls.

"What?" they asked. "He followed us? Did he do anything?"

"Yah, we'll explain later," Sakura said. "Lets get going."

"Right," Sai said, paying the man, then dragging the boys away.

They walked back to the castle, since Shino and Kiba were already there.

"So, what did Sasuke do?" Naruto asked, from his earlier question.

"That creep attacked Lee and Sakura," Ino said.

"Technitly, he attcked Lee," Sakura said.

Naruto flamed up.

"What he attacked my friends, ohhh he's so going down, believe it," Naruto said.

"Hm, I wander how our parents are doing?" Tenten asked.

Sakura's eyes went white.

"Uh oh," Sakura said.

"What?" Lee asked.

"Knowing my mom, and knowing that your dad is in my castle, she is probably pounding him to death with the club," Sakura said.

The others pictured a tombstone that read 'Here lies King Guy who was beaten to death by Queen Tsunade with a club'. The others laughed. Sakura sighed and Lee looked scared. Luckily, they made it to the castle without any suprise attacks. Shino was sitting down on a tree at the enterance of the castle. They couldn't tell if he was awake or sleeping.

"Shino, you awake?" Naruto asked.

Shino didn't answer him. Naruto's eyes twitched.

"I really hate it when he doesn't answer me. Now I can't tell if he is up or not," Naruto said.

"He ... he's up," Hinata said.

"How can you tell?" Ino asked.

"Look," she said.

They looked to see Shino in front of them. Naruto and Choji jumped into Lee's arms, making Lee fall hard on his knee's. His stomach hurt again but he showed no sign of it. He bit his lower lip.

"Lee, are you alright?" Sakura asked.

Naruto and Choji noticed Lee was on his knees and jumped off. Sakura helped him up.

"Yes, thank you," Lee said.

Ino sent a glare to the two idiots.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" the two asked.

Ino flamed up. Tenten sighed and put a hand on the flamed up girls shoulder.

"Give it a rest, they won't understand," Tenten said.

"Yah," Ino said.

Naruto and Choji shrugged. They looked to see Shino walking to the castles doors. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

'That guy is freaky,' he thought.

The others walked into the castle. Ino and Tenten went to try on their clothes and dragged Temari, Hinata, and Sakura with them. Shikamaru went to sleep. Neji sat down and read a book. Naruto and Choji found the kitchen and started eating. Sai sighed and watched them eat. Lee walked into the infirmary. He opened a cubert and found a tub of the ointment Sakura had bought. He rubbed some of it on his mark. It burned but he was getting use to the pain. He looked out the window. Something didn't feel right. He walked out of the infirmary and past the kitchen. He stopped and looked back in. Inside was Choji and Naruto eating, no surprise there, and Kankuro eatting along with them. Sai was watching them, cleaning up the mess. Lee gave a small chuckle. He walked away and sat on a bench on the outside, collecting his thoughts. With the girls, Tenten and Ino were trying on clothes. Temari, somehow, got away. Sakura was sitting on a chair, looking outside a window. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ino.

"Sakura, quit day dreaming, we bought you a dress. It should make Lee drool," Ino teased.

Sakura blushed and took the dress. She examined it. It was beautiful. It was a mixture between an evening gown and a regular dress. It was red and had long sleeves. The sleeves were cut up to the elbows. It went down to her knees.

"Well," Tenten said.

"Well what?" Sakura asked,

"Try it on," Ino said.

"Oh ... oh right," Sakura said.

She put it on. Tenten and Ino smiled.

"It fits, perfect," they said.

Sakura was about to take it off, when Ino stopped her.

"Oh no you don't. We have to show Lee ... come on," Tenten said.

They dragged Sakura around the castle. They made it to the kitchen.

"Do any of you know where Lee is?" asked and irritated Tenten.

"Yah, I think he's outside," Kankuro replied.

"Thanks," Ino said.

They walked outside and found Lee on the bench, his eyes closed. Tenten walked up to him.

"Hey Lee, we need you to know what you think of this dress," Tenten said.

Ino was infront of Sakura so he wouldn't see yet. He opened his eyes and nodded.

"Great," Tenten said.

Ino walked out of the way and allowed Lee to see Sakura. He refrained from making his jaw drop. Tenten and Ino held in a snicker. Hinata smiled.

"So, what do you think?" Tenten asked.

"It looks ... beautiful on her," he said, blushing.

Sakura blushed.

"Perfect," Ino said.

Ino came up with an evil idea. She told Tenten. Both of them smiled evilly. Tenten made Lee stand up and pushed him closer to Sakura. Ino did the same with Sakura. Just as the two were going to touch, they heard a boom. They looked to the cause of the sound and saw somke. Lee's eyes widened.

"Tell the others," Lee said.

He started running in that direction.

"Lee!" Sakura yelled.

He didn't listen, he was out of their eye sight.

"Come on, we need to warn the others," Ino said.

"Right," Tenten and Hinata said.

The three of them ran to the castle when they noticed Sakura wasn't running with them. She was staring at the smoke.

'Lee,' she thought.

"Sakura come on," Tenten said.

"Right," Sakura said.

They ran inside and found Neji.

"Neji, we have a problem," Tenten said.

"What is it?" he asked in his bored tone.

"There was a ... a boom somewhere in the city and Lee went to check it out, you have to help him," Tenten said.

Neji nodded.

"You four stay here, I'll warn the others," Neji said.

Tenten looked angry. She grabbed his left wrist.

"Why can't we come?" she asked angerly.

"Because you will get your nice dresses destroied, now stay here," he said, walking away.

Tenten blushed.

"Did Neji just compliment us?" Ino asked.

"There's a first for everything," Sakura said.

"Lets get out of our new clothes and back into our regular ones," Tenten said.

"Agreed," the other girls said.

Temari ran into the room.

"Did you guys -" she was interrupted.

"Hear the boom, yah, we warned Neji and he warned the boys," Tenten said.

Temari stood there, looking dumbfounded.

"Ok ... well, we should get the infirmary for the patients," Temari said.

"Right," the girls said.

They followed her to the infirmary. Temari stopped at the door.

"Why'd you stop?" Hinata asked.

"It's ... your ... friend," she said.

Her voice sounded scared. They looked to see Shino at the door.

"Shino, you're suppose to be helping the others," Tenten said.

He didn't answer. He pointed inside. Temari opened the door and saw hurt people in there. She turned to Shino, but he was already gone.

"Ok, Ino, Tenten, you'll help me in here. Sakura, Hinata you guys go to the gates and send them this way," Temari ordered.

The girls nodded and went to their duties. People upon people came to the castle. Sakura and Hinata yelled over the crowed.

"Hinata," Sakura yelled.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Go help Temari, she might need more help," Sakura said.

"Ok, good luck," she said, running to the castle.

"Ok, single file. She will see you all," Sakura yelled.

The crowd continued to panic. Then she heard someone yell her name.

"Sakura! Sakura!" the person yelled.

She turned to see Naruto and Neji.

"What's the matter?" she asked, afraid it might be about Lee.

"Get the girls, we have to go," Naruto said.

"But, we have to help," Sakura said.

"No, King Gaara ordered us to leave. The sooner we defeat Orochimaru, the sooner this will end," Neji said.

"Ok, I'll get them. What about your stuff?" she asked.

"We sent Shino, he has them," Naruto said.

Sakura nodded then ran up to the castle. She got through and got Tenten, Ino, and Hinata. They grabbed their stuff, and ran out the castle. At the door, they saw two Water Kingdom guards. Before the two could attack, Neji and Naruto kicked their butts.

"Come on, lets move," Neji said.

They followed. They ran out the gates and onto the path to the Sound Kingdom. They walked when they were 4 miles away from the Sand Kingdom. They sighed.

"So Neji, what happened?" Tenten asked.

"Some guards from the Water Kingdom attacked a small building, hoping to draw us to it, and we did," Neji said.

"Then?" Ino asked.

"We fought back and sent the people t the castle, hoping they would be safe there," Shikamaru replied.

"Di ... did anyone get hurt?" Hinata asked.

The boys looked up at Lee. He didn't see their looks, but he could feel them. He was in pain.

"Sasuke was there," Lee said.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"I attacked him and he attacked back," he said, holding his stomach.

"Then a Water guard came up and ... and slached Lee's back with a sword," Naruto said.

"It was a surprise attack," Lee said.

They passed by a stream in silence. Sakura checked her medical supllies. She walked up next to Lee.

"Lee, let me take a look at your wounds," Sakura said.

"They're fine," he said, not wanting to worry her.

"Lee, I can tell when you are hurt, now lets stop at the stream so I can check your wounds," she said in a threatning tone.

He gulped and nodded. He sat down on a rock and allowed her to check his back. When she lifted up the shirt to see the slash (she made him take it off) her eyes widened. The slash went down his entire back. She gasped.

"Lee, this ... this is bad, we should have checked it earlier," she said.

"I ... I didn't want to worry you," he said.

She stared at him. He was more worried about her than him. She took out some liquid ointment.

"Tell me when it hurts," she said.

She put some of the liquid ointment on a cotton ball and rubbed it on his back. It burned, but he said nothing. She took out some wrapping bandages and placed it on the slash, not around his chest. She still had to take care of the mark. She moved to the front and looked at the mark. It had expanded an inch. She rubbed some of the gel ointment on the mark. He didn't cry out in pain, but bit his lower lip. Sakura handed him his shirt. He thanked her and put it on.

"Come on, we should get going," Lee said, walking ahead.

"Right," she said.

She followed him to the others. They saw a blushing Hinata and an Ino on top of a Naruto. Ino was pinching his cheeks.

"Admit it," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Admit it."

"Why?"

"Admit it!"

"Why?"

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto said something to Ino and know she wants him to admit that he said it," Tenten said.

She looked bored.

"What was it?" Lee asked.

"He said he had a crush on Hinata," Tenten said, boredly.

"Why are you acting so bored?" Sakura asked.

"Because Ino won't let me tourcher him," Tenten said, pouting.

Ino looked tired.

"Ok, if you won't tell me, then I'm sure you'll tell her. Oh Tenten," Ino said.

Tenten's eyes brightened and an evil smile spread across his face. Naruto gulped.

"Now, tell me, or you won't even be able to tell anyone ever again," Tenten threatened.

"No!" he said.

"Have it your way," Tenten said.

She lifted him up by his collar wand was about to punch him when she heard a soft voice.

"No, don't hurt him," Hinata said.

The three girls and the two boys looked at Hinata. She was standing her ground.

"Please ... don't ... don't hurt him. If he doesn't ... doesn't want to say ... anything ... then we should ... shouldn't make him," Hinata said.

"Hinata," Naruto whispered.

Tenten hmphed and dropped Naruto on his butt.

"Fine, but you'll have to tell her soon, got it," Tenten threatened.

He gulped and nodded. Tenten walked away. Lee looked from Tenten to Naruto. His eyes were scared. Sakura laughed at Lee's expression. Hinata let her breath out. She had been holding her breath.

"Thanks Hinata, I owe you one," Naruto said, getting up.

Hinata blushed.

"No ... problem," she replied.

He walked away. Lee looked surprised.

"Did I miss something?" he asked.

Sakura lightly chuckled.

"You never knew Hinata had a crush on Naruto?" she asked.

"No I knew that, but I didn't know Naruto had a crush on Hinata," he replied.

"Yah, me neither," Sakura said.

Neji stood up.

"We should get going," he said.

The others nodded. This time, Neji was leading the group. As they walked, no one noticed that the forest started to get thicker. Lee looked around. He felt eyes watching them. His stomach started to hurt, but he didn't notice. Sakura could see Lee was uneasy.

"Lee, what's wrong?" she asked.

"For some reason, I feel like we're being watched," Lee said.

Sakura looked around and noticed the forest got darker. She moved closer to Lee.

"I feel it too," she said.

"Keep your guard up, we are close to the kingdom," Neji said.

Everyone, but the girls, took out a mini sword. Suddenly, an army of Sound guards jumped infront of him. Sasuke was leading them, behind Orochimaru.

"So glad you could come to my kingdom," Orochimaru said.

Orochimaru's eyes traveled the group until they rested on Lee.

"So, you are the one who has the mark on," he said.

Lee narrowed his eyes. He wielded his sword and ran towards Orochimaru. The guards were about to help Orochimaru, but he stopped them. He dodged Lee's attack and kicked him to a tree.

"Lee," Sakura said.

"Take care of his friends," Orochimaru ordered.

"Sir!" they said, then attacked Lee's friends.

Lee got up and ran at Orochimaru while his back was turned. He successfully stabbed him in the bback. Orochimaru smirked and snapped his fingers. Lee felt the pain, but didn't care. Orochimaru did a back kick, making Lee hit the same tree. He then took the sword out of his back.

"You apparently don't feel the pain, but the more it grows, the more painful it gets," Orochimaru said.

Lee got up and kicked Orochimaru. Orochimaru punched Lee. Lee dodged it and kicked him again. Orochimaru smirked. He snapped his fingers again. Lee fell to the ground and held his stomach. Orochimaru was right, it did get more painful. He stood up against the pain, but that was all he could do. He was in a lot of pain. Orochimaru ran towards Lee to punch him.

"Lee!" Sakura yelled running towards him.

Sakura ran infront of Lee and took the punch. She fell backwards, into Lee's arms.

"Sakura, Sakura, can you hear me?" he asked.

Sakura didn't answer. Her eyes were closed. Lee lowered his head. He closed his eyes and bit his lower lip. Orochimaru was about to attack again, but Lee dodged it. He jumped a few feet back and sat Sakura down carefully. He stood up and made his hands fist. Blue energy flowed around him. Everyone looked surprised. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and looked at Lee. She couldn't find her voice so she watched. Unknown to them, but two black eyes were watching them in the shadows. Lee turned around and faced Orochimaru.

"Wha ... what happened to Lee?" Naruto asked.

"Incrediable, he accessed power that only men could dream of," Neji said.

"He's powerful," Shino whispered.

Nobody heard him. Lee ran up to Orochimaru and punched him in the stomach. Orochimaru fell backwards and hit a tree. Lee then moved and attack the other Sound fighters. He ran up to Sasuke and punched him in the back. Orochimaru came up behind Lee and used his sword to strike Lee's back. Lee turned and using his sword stabbed Orochimaru in the heart. Orochimaru fell backwards on the ground. Dead. Sakura stood up.

"Lee?" she asked.

She couldn't believe that this boy, this man, could have done that under 5 minutes. Lee looked back at her. He still had the energy flowing around him. Suddenly, a girl jumped down from the tree she was in. She was 21-years-old. She wore a pink tang-top and white pants with pink sandels. She had long brown hair that touched the ground.

"Hello everyone," she said.

"And who the heck are you?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Sen," she said, walking over to Sasuke. "Poor guy."

"Poor guy? He tried to kill us!" Kiba yelled.

"But it's not his fault, he was controlled," she said.

She moved her hand to his neck and found a curse mark there (the one in the anime). She put her hand over it. She closed her eyes and her hand began to glow. When she returned her hand, the mark was gone. Sasuke slowly woke up.

"Ouch, what just hit me?" he asked.

Nobody answered him. Lee looked at the older girl.

"Can you get me out of this form?" he asked.

"Not be, but she can," Chihiro said, pointing to Sakura.

"Wha ... me?" she asked.

"Yep," she replied.

"But how?" Sakura asked.

"That's for you to figure out, not me," Chihiro replied.

Sakura looked at Lee and tried to come up with a thought. She walked up to Lee and hugged him and he hugged her. She buried her head into his chest and began to sing.

I can finally see it Now I've got to believe All those precious stories All the world is made of.

faith, and trust...and pixie dust

So I'll try Because I finally believe I'll try, cuz I can see what you see

I'll try, I'll try I will try I'll try.

To fly...

There was a blue flash and Lee was back to normal. Chihiro smiled.

"Looks like my work here is done," Chihiro said, just as she was about to leave.

"Hold on, who exactly are you?" Shino asked.

Everyone looked at him, stunned. He actually spoke. She turned around and faced her.

"I'm a wanderer and a magic user," she said. "But don't worry, it's the good kind. Now, bye bye."

She snapped her fingers and she was gone.

"We should get going,"Sasuke said.

"Yah," Lee said.

Sakura smiled and held his hand. Kiba turned to Shino.

"Why did you ask her? Do you like her?" he asked.

Shino ignored him.

"Jerk," he said.

Without Kiba knowing, Shino swepted him off his feet. Naruto was on all fours. The group walked back on the path they had come.

Back at the Konoha Kingdoms

Sakura sat at her window, looking out. It had been a month since they returned from their mission. She had a wedding book on her desk. She smiled. A week after they came back, Lee propsed to her when they were having dinner at her castle. She of course said yes and had their first kiss, if you didn't count the kisses on the cheeks. Guy ranted on about youth that day and her mom had to smack him with her trusty old club. She couldn't wait. Only two monthes 'till her wedding. Ino teased her about it. She kept asking her why Lee instead of Sasuke. Sakura told her time again that she loved Lee, not Sasuke. She closed her eyes. The days seemed to be long. She opened her eyes to see the North Kingdoms castle being worked on. She smiled. Lee and the other boys decided to work on it. She blushed a heavy red when she saw Lee's bare chest. She was happy to know that Orochimaru was dead and that the Sound Kingdom was destroied. The world seemed to be brighter without Orochimaru. She was planning everything for the wedding. She looked up at the blue cloudless sky.

"I can't wait, only two more monthes and then," she started "then I will be with him."

Down with Lee, he was picking up a piece of lumber and placed it in the area it needed to be. He looked up at the South Kingdoms castle. He smiled.

"Only two more monthes," he said.

"Lee, stop day dreaming and help us," Neji said.

Lee blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry Neji, coming," Lee said, running to help his friends.

Sakura smiled from her window.

'He's so sensitive, and cute when he blushes,' she thought.

Chihiro sat on the roof above Sakura's room. She was bathing in the sun. She took out a orcania and put it to her mouth. She began to play it. It was "My Will" from Inuyasha.

'A happy ending, just like in the fariytale books,' Sakura thought, listening to the music.

-The End-


End file.
